SONY's Response

[Tim]

A few months ago I had an assignment from my english class to write a bussiness letter to a company of my choice and give them suggestions on how to better a product that I wasn't pleased with. Well, I wrote to Sony telling them that their portable CD players suck and how to fix them. I posted at this forum on this subject for suggestions on what I should say. ( see the original thread here , and many thanks for the suggestions. It helped a lot)

Sony responded to my letter in a most unexpected way (Actually, I never expected to hear from them). But first for your viewing pleasure here is the original letter I wrote and sent. And it's in official bussiness letter format, no less!

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[size=large]SONY CORP[/size]

Tim [excluded]

[address excluded]


7-35, Kingshgawa 6-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141, Japan.

Dear Sir or Madam:

Subject: Poor sound quality in portable CD players

Your recent line of portable CD players have declined in sound quality. Too much effort has been put into making the players thinner, with longer battery life. While these are good attributes of the portable CD player, you have neglected the quality of sound. The headphone and line outs are by far the largest problems with these players. They are not clean and crystal clear like they should be, and don’t have enough power to drive headphones properly. The headphone out should have at least 5mW per channel. Clarity is more important than volume. People searching for quality sound have been purchasing older Sony models such as, the D-25/D-25S (D-250), D-555 (D-Z555), D-303, and the D-777. All these models were released between 1989 and 1995. And some have only 1.5 hours of battery life with proprietary batteries that aren’t available anymore, but they all have excellent sound quality. This proves that people value quality of sound more than extended battery life and thinness. It also proves that quality in general has declined over the past few years.

Your portable CD players should also be made of stronger materials, like the classic D-25 (mentioned above), and the upcoming EJ2000 model both of which have full metal bodies. There’s no reason why your portable CD players can’t sound better. A company of Sony’s size and caliber can easily put more effort into making quality products. With a little more attention to detail and higher-quality components, anything is possible.

Sincerely,




Tim [excluded]
Concerned Customer

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You can see bits and pieces in this letter that I took from people's response to the original thread. (Again, many thanks)

And Sony's response which is on official Sony stationary, no less!

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January 17th, 2003

Tim [excluded]

[address excluded]


Dear Tim [this is getting redundent]:

Thank you for contacting Sony Japan. Your idea [Tim] eh hem, which was inspired by Head-Fi and headphiles alike[/Tim] was forwarded to Sony Electronics Inc. USA for resolution.

Please call me at [excluded] to discuss the situation you described in your letter. I am available Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, ET. You may also leave a telephone number so I may call. Please reference your customer information number [excluded].

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

[Signature with real ink went here]

Darnely Spooner
Inernational Customer Realations Specialists
Office of the President

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Pretty cool, eh? Oh and just for the record, the reason I sent the letter to Japan was because I couldn't find any other address for Sony anywhere. And why not go directly to the source?

And now for the real point of this post: What do I say?

Could we use this opportunity to change the way we see Sony design their portable CD players? Well, maybe that is too extreme. What do you guys (and yes, the few ladies who frequent the forums) think?

 

[krayzie]

Oh man from the office of the president?!?! Humm... maybe Nobuyuki Idei is concerned after reading your letter and seeing how Sony's consumer electronics dept. isn't doing too well over the last few years... LOL!

Maybe you should suggest to their General Audio design team to commence another Spirit Project and remind them of the philosophy that has brought to the size and status of what Sony is today... Seriously I think they've lost it over the last few years... both quality and design wise... like for example, why would they have an external battery case for PCDP that is left dangling on its own, and pairing dollar store quality earphones with expensive top-of-the-line models... are they on crack?!?! Do they think that once they've achieved largest market share that they can dictate loyal customers with cheap quality junk?!?! Don't they realize that we aren't doing them any good by concentrating on the used market for equipment while disregarding their new inferior products? If they would clean up their act I think both the consumers and Sony would be happy, they make quality products and we would buy them, it's a win-win situation in my opinion...

I think they will listen if we can band together to influence change into their designs... It took around 2 to 3 years and signed petition after petition over at minidisc.org to get Sony to provide a way to disable the manual END SEARCH function of their MD recorders... I firmly think we can get them to put back the old high quality headphone output and other things with a little effort...

So can somebody please start a signature collection page for better Sony PCDP please? I'm too stupid in html to write such a page...

 

[krayzie]

Might want to check out this Wired article on Sony: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/sony.html

 

[Oliver :)]

Way cool, Tim!

I am sitting here, turning my (defective, sadly) D-25S in my hands, thinking that if SONY would produce a portable device of this design & build quality today, I would want it to have these features:

- SACD / MP3CD capable. I guess SONY would rather not include DVD-A though

- the high quality outs mentioned in your thread. Sound quality over all.

- quality anti-shock without compression that can be turned off completely for max. sound quality.

- LiPoly battery.

- IR remote, one full size, on CC sized.

- If it comes with headphones included these should of course not be too crappy... maybe SONYs top of the line buds or something, not that I would use them though...

- honestly, I would not be sad if the whole thing even looked like a D-25S, with a few mods (display, etc.). I would want it to ooze quality. This means no flimsy lids, metal wherever possible, a decent weight (sick, I know), so not too light. The design has to be clean, I do not want excessive Logos, stickers and whatnot.

Basically, this would man an audiophile SACDP, and I think that if SONY really wants to massively push SACD into the market, and if it is just to dull their piracy-angst, there *has* to be a portable unit. It would also reduce (not eliminate) the need to rip a disc to another format for portable use. Personally, I would much rather buy a portable than a stationary SACD unit. Why? Because with my iPod/PCDP/TAH/Cosmic/Etys/Senns I can have very high quality music everywhere around the house & garden, and on the go if I want to. I do not feel like sitting in my room all day where the big system is.

Just my 2EUR-ct

 

[Flasken]

Quote:

Originally posted by Oliver Way cool, Tim! I am sitting here, turning my (defective, sadly) D-25S in my hands, thinking that if SONY would produce a portable device of this design & build quality today, I would want it to have these features: - SACD / MP3CD capable. I guess SONY would rather not include DVD-A though - the high quality outs mentioned in your thread. Sound quality over all. - quality anti-shock without compression that can be turned off completely for max. sound quality. - LiPoly battery. - IR remote, one full size, on CC sized. - If it comes with headphones included these should of course not be too crappy... maybe SONYs top of the line buds or something, not that I would use them though... - honestly, I would not be sad if the whole thing even looked like a D-25S, with a few mods (display, etc.). I would want it to ooze quality. This means no flimsy lids, metal wherever possible, a decent weight (sick, I know), so not too light. The design has to be clean, I do not want excessive Logos, stickers and whatnot. Basically, this would man an audiophile SACDP, and I think that if SONY really wants to massively push SACD into the market, and if it is just to dull their piracy-angst, there *has* to be a portable unit. It would also reduce (not eliminate) the need to rip a disc to another format for portable use. Personally, I would much rather buy a portable than a stationary SACD unit. Why? Because with my iPod/PCDP/TAH/Cosmic/Etys/Senns I can have very high quality music everywhere around the house & garden, and on the go if I want to. I do not feel like sitting in my room all day where the big system is. Just my 2EUR-ct

a SACDP? I think we should aim quite a bit lower at least to begin with... I'd be happy if they could peace together a d-ej925 size player with portacorda/TA quality sound... I know it could be challenging making so small yet good amplifiers, but common, it's SONY we're talking about, not a DIY'er on a budget...

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by Flasken a SACDP? I think we should aim quite a bit lower at least to begin with... I'd be happy if they could peace together a d-ej925 size player with portacorda/TA quality sound...

Okay, there definitively is room for a decent PCDP next to a PSACDP

(whoops, seen my mistake above) ...PSACDP, the power of acronyms..., but just as I said, if SONY wants SACD to be the format of choice, there has to be a portable. How long will it take until someone puts DVD-A capability into a PDVDP? (btw. At amazon.de, currently most DVD-As are EUR17,99, most SACDs EUR19,99/22,99 - not so good for SACD IMO).
The best solution would of course be a portable SACD/DVD-A with excellent redbook playback, all in a superb case for, let's say 349,00. Oh, and maybe it could make good espresso as well...

 

[chillysalsa]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim I wrote to Sony telling them that their portable CD players suck and how to fix them.

BRA-VO! Have you called them yet? I think if you want them to listen, you have to talk money. Try to explain how if they made a 'head-fi' model that had the sound quality and build quality (like the older D-25, etc...) they would have steady sales from people like us. If they made this one model 'right' the first time - they would hardly ever need to spend money on upgrading or replacing it with a newer model (instead of changing it every year with something crappier!). They would have this one safe source of revenue from people looking for real quality. It would get tons of free word of mouth advertising from people that establish a 'cult following' like for the old players. They have a market for such a product - just look at all the old players that people pay $150+ for on eBay every week! And they wouldn't have to re-invent anything - design costs would be minimal - they could just update (or take the best from) the old designs in the past.

Maybe we could start a petition of people saying they would buy such a model.
Free Petition Hosting

 

[Eagle_Driver]

The problem with your request is that 99.999 percent of the population just doesn't care if the sound is horrible. They just want sound, not quality.

 

[purk]

Eagle,
It worth trying, isn't it?

Tim,
Good Job!

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by purk Eagle, It worth trying, isn't it?

Probably. But if it dramatically increases the average selling price of Sony's entire line of Walkman units, then practically nobody would be buying - and this comes in this day and age of declining real take-home salaries and other economic woes. So let's keep that 'ideal' Head-Fi certified new CD Walkman an astronomically expensive niche product, if it ever comes to market. If Sony improves the sound quality of its ENTIRE line to old-time levels, then even the cheapest CD Walkman would cost far more $$$ than anybody is willing to pay for it - a price of, let's say, $500!

At that price you're FAR better off buying a full-sized upper-mid-fi level home CD player.

 

[Tim]

Quote:

Have you called them yet?

Not yet. I will some time next week.

Quote:

The problem with your request is that 99.999 percent of the population just doesn't care if the sound is horrible. They just want sound, not quality.

Very true Eagle. This is my biggest doubt that they'll really listen to what I have to say. But I'll try anyway. We see the opportunity for quality, they just have dollar signs in their eyes. But the fact that they actually want to talk intrigues me.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

A bit off-topic, but this cost-cutting on PCDPs is not limited to Sony - but to most other brands, as well. All of the current PCDPs from the major brands have capacitors that are so undersized that the bass output from their headphone jacks doesn't go very low or deep, especially when used with low-impedance headphones.

That said, Sony's MD Walkman units generally have better-quality headphone outs than their CD Walkman units (and most other current PCDPs, for that matter).

 

[Gord SW Ont]

While a new "super" pcdp (ie which includes everything, such as, SACD, titanium body, etc) would be nice

... as others point out the market would be small and the cost high. This wouldn't solve much.

But you could point out that the apparent main design objective used in the last few years of "the longest lasting batteries" (regardless of the negative impact on the sound) has exceeded a reasonable limit ... at least for some of their customers. It is now adversely affecting the basic purpose of the unit which, presumably, is to reproduce decent sound from an audio CD.

When the sound quality gets as compromised as it has, I think that it would be a smart move on Sony's part to re-evaluate this stategy. In my opinion, a good line out (I don't even look at a pcdp without a line out), with decent power output (> 5mw ... preferably 7 or more ... my old Sony pcdp has 15 and it's just about perfect) and reasonably robust construction would be a good step forward. Decent tone controls (for the default headphones), good anti-vibration that doesn't adversely affect sound and/or can be turned on/off, etc, etc are other items to consider.

If by talking to Sony, you could reverse the current trend ... even a little ... it would be worth it. Maybe suggest to Sony that this would be an very effective "NEW" trend.

Thks for your efforts so far and good luck ... Gord.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

My personal goal is to limit the maximum loudness capability of all audio gear - portable or home - to a maximum decibel level of only 40dB with even the most efficient headphones (or loudspeakers at a distance of 1 meter). Unfortunately, that's never going to happen, since today's audio equipment has already exceeded 110dB at the relatively high end of what's called 'normal' listening levels.

 

[aeberbach]

Cool, Tim. I'd happily pay $500 for a quality SACD portable with line out and ESP that can be disabled. Bonus points for optical output and MP3 playback.